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Digital transformation... isn't just about technology

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Digital transformation… isn’t just technology

Sandra C

With digital transformation being the hot topic on the lips of brands and communication agencies everywhere, I wonder whether we should be focusing less on the newest screens, and more on the mind-sets of our employees.

Now, I know I’m not expected to be Larry Page but when it comes to digital technology, I still have a hard time understanding how we put loads of information into tiny little chips or even spelling the word algorithms correctly. Though it is obvious to me, how the mixture of the two has evolved digital businesses such as apple and its iPad into being the most used 21st Century Babysitter! So life, inevitably gets easier for us right? …as there are now better ways to organise our personal lives, culture and work.

Not quite, I believe that the ‘transformation’ in digital transformation includes us; the businesses, employees, people’s mind-sets and how mentally nimble we are to keep adapting. After all technology isn’t what drives change; it provides the opportunity to do things better.

This means that attitudes towards learning or recruitment even, should not only be focused on credentials or what someone has learnt 2 years ago but the need to be prepared to handle what’s next, practise skills of resilience and flexibility – unlearning old behaviours and re-learning in a constant manner. Digital transformation is about understanding that it is ok to fail, we just need to fail fast, learn fast and move fast!

To explain it through the lens of time, look at the cars we drive today and the cars of 20 years ago, different right?!, think of the phones of today and the phones of 20 years ago, again very different! Think of the way most offices are structured today and the way offices are structured 20 years ago. No change, we still sit in the same neat straight structured way!

This is where I believe brands and businesses who want to adopt digital transformation well, have to be aware that as well as technological changes, our mind-sets should also be prepared to not stay the same.

Digital transformation really shouldn’t be seen as something that is done, but rather something that is done either well or badly. We need to move away from thinking just technology and start thinking of change being the only constant.

The rise of the side hustle

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The Rise of the side hustle

Kian B

Language is always changing. These changes happen across time, space and social groups. Each generation invents and reshapes old words to create new meaning. Side-hustle is one of those words which has been on the move.

Hustle derives from the Dutch word husselen which means to “shake”. By the 1950s the term hustle became more mainstream; losing its dubious connotations. Today, side hustle can be defined as a way of mixing passion and income. More people are side-hustling today than ever before..

A decade ago, the same group were labelled the Slash generation. Mainly because of their tendency to embrace numerous careers that overlap. The transition from Slash/Slash to side hustle is symbolic of changes in the core function of the practice. The term Slash was used to label the movement from an outsider’s point of view. Whereas, side-hustle is now used by the people; highlighting its increasing ubiquity and popularity.

According to CareerBuilder 29% of workers have a side-hustle, a trend that is especially strong amongst “millennials” at 44%. Overall, 63% of millennials aged 20 and above want to start their own business.

So, why are so many young people embracing this new wave of “work”?

The generally accepted Google answer is that we are living in uncertain times. Today more than ever, young people are looking for fluidity. Which means that they want the flexibility of freelancing along with the stability of a full-time job.

At Fortysix, we understand youth culture to be much more complex, segmented and multifaceted. If you want to truly to understand our attitudes, behaviours and aspirations, you need to be on a level with us and see the world through our eyes.

So, we decided to do what we do best and speak to some real-life humans. First, we engaged with our community of 16–24 year olds, who are on the ground. Then, we hit the streets of London to find out what the public thinks.

We discovered that young people are side hustling for several different reasons. Our research highlighted 5 major themes, with each section being a representation of an entire tribe.